Use of Cannabis? Discuss Sensibly!

[Phanerothyme]

Originally posted by "kittykat"

 

No, that would make me a hypocrite.

so no:

Tea

Coffee

Coca Cola

Red Bull

Chocolate

Alcohol

Tobacco

 

then?

Fair Enough.

[kittykat]

Ok. Tea = dont like, Coffee = disgusting, Coca cola = dont drink, too much sugar and generally not nice, Red Bull = no, never tried, Chocolate = no, too many calories, Alcohol = No, im teetotal and i hate the stuff and Tobacco = yeah right as if. Sorry youre not going to get me with that old trick.

[t020]

yeah cos thats they're all on a par with cannabis aren't they.... i can see it now.... long term brain damage caused by cadburys dairy milk. tsk. the fact is that smoking tobacco is bad enough in terms of the disease it causes and thus the burden on the NHS... smoking cannabis is at least on a par with tobacco, although since its currently illegal, much worse. why encourage more people to smoke? we can't be discouraging tobacco smokers one minute while encouraging pot heads the next.

[kittykat]

Hi Im a Loser. Im sat in my room eating dairy milk with a bunch of 'mates.' Its making us feel like....all floaty and stuff. We bought it off a dodgy dealer (newsagent down the road) and we're all waaaaaaaassssteddd!

I think ill go to chocaholics anonymous to help me with my problem.

[mr tickle]

There are a couple of cafes in London where they turn a blind eye, one in Brixton on in Kings Cross which is more blatant. But when we went there it was really boring and full of kids.

 

The music was annoying and the palce was dump to be honest.

 

Give me an armchair, a decent stereo and a group of good friends any day, that's the way to enjoy a smoke!

 

Just a thought.

 

[Miss_60]

Originally posted by teemac

Is it true that there is going to be a cannabis cafe in Sheffield? Apparently it's being built next to the forum... Just a rumour I heard. Furthermore, how do these places get away with it? Surely it's illegal?

 

...I wish!!!

[gloworm]

As someone said (unless you only ever ingest it by eating) its as least as dangerous as smoking so why campaign for more people to give themselves death sentences/adversely effect their mental health....

Thank f*** that pathetic legalisation campaign of a couple of years ago seems to have blown itself out...what an unholy alliance that was...MPs and media types who didnt know the hell what they were on about but who were so desperate to be down with "the kids" aligned with a load of dope-heads who were obviously only gonna mention the "positive" things...

[Phanerothyme]

Originally posted by gloworm

As someone said (unless you only ever ingest it by eating) its as least as dangerous as smoking

 

you neglect to mention vapourisation, where the plant material is heated but not burned, in order to vapourise the cannabinoids without producing pyrolitic toxins (carbon monoxide, 'tar', nitrous oxide etc).

 

This is certainly the medically preferred method of ingesting the plant material (the synthetic cannabinoids all come in pill or ampoule form).

 

With this method (and smoking bongs. spliffs etc) the dose can be self titrated (the user can take a little, wait for the effects, take some more until the desired level is reached)

 

and since eating it can result in an experience that is too strong or not strong enough with little chance for adjustment after ingestion (especially if you have eaten too much) it makes for a much better controlled experience.

 

Aslo, eating it can make the effects much more pronounced since the liver will aminate certain cannibinoid compunds (which contain no nitrogen - bizarrely) into tetrahydrocannivarin, a substance much more powerful then delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (the most powerful agent in cannabis). So whilst you need more material to get any effects from eating, and less of the active ingredients pass the blood brain barrier, when you do get the effects they are quit different (sometimes) from smoking or vapourising the stuff.

[Richard Ap Rhys]

Originally posted by Sidla

You've come back a bit strong. There's loads of research that proves that regular cannabis use causes mental illness such as severe depression and schizophrenia.

 

 

Your source is severely misinformed.

 

ONE medical survey, made public earlier this week, said that evidence suggests that the risks of developing mental illness are increased for regular cannabis users. That is a far cry from 'Cannabis causes mental illness'. I am unaware of any other 'surveys' that have arrived at similair conclusions - also be aware of the political background to this so-called 'survey' (ie: US State Dept 'commissioning' the survey to support a continuing anti-cannabis stance in the US Govt despite increasing public support for legalisation there too.

 

I have also read a report that had found that statistical evidence suggests that the toxins from Cigarette smoking can cause brain damage leading to various neuroses. Has the recent anti-marijuana report taken this into account? (No, in fact it has completely ignored these reports).

 

Another factor, completely ignored, much to my amazement is the possibility that people who are mentally ill could be more inclined to smoke hashish than those who are not - perhaps to relieve symptoms of anxiety or depression without resorting to highly addictive and potentially damaging synthetic prescription drugs. (Valium/Diazepam, Prozac, Seroxat etc etc).

 

Its no good simply stating 'over 55% of our psychiatric patients under the age of 30 were found to have used cannabis at some stage of their past'. It's likely that further studies would reveal that 80% had drunk alcohol and 91% had regularly watched TV. Maybe just under half could drive. Could spending two hours every morning and two hours every evening stuck in an oven of a car in a 12 mile traffic jam, listening to Hallam FM be a contributory factor in the development of mental illness, or is it without doubt the spliff that they have four miles into the gridlock, just to destress a little?

 

Please deal with facts. People you know. If you know nobody that smokes hash then youre either a nun or people are lying to you.

 

I know a lot of people that have used cannabis regularly for thirty years, have held down their job, never 'graduated' to hard drugs, never get depression and never get involved in punch-ups like hardcore drinkers do.

 

I think it would be a good idea to create an adults-only cannabis tolerant zone in the city, maybe the cultural industries quarter, complete with amsterdam style cafes. Allow legal sale of the stuff from 'licensed' dealers and plough the revenue back into city centre improvements. Lets face it, Sheffield has nothing else to offer tourists and we desperately need to develop some sort of strategy to increase prosperity in the city.

[SteveyM]

It seems a bit strange that people have said that a cannabis caf tolerated by the police would cause more crime when our societies other legal and widely available drug, alcohol, causes vast amounts of stret crime and property damage every week.

 

Do those who see the arrival of a cannabis cafe as a threat to our safety want to see all pubs and clubs in the city banned from selling alcohol?

 

Also I found the Weed user = heroin addict link that one person mentioned, hilarious. I've been smoking weed for around 8 years and, at least so far, have never felt the urge to shoot up.

The only reason that cannabis is a gateway drug is that the same people that sell it sell heroin and crack as well and it's in their interest to get people hooked on the harder stuff.

 

To me this is a stronger argument for the legalisation of cannabis with proper controls than an argument to continue with the expense and divertion of police resources to control something which is only a problem thanks to government propaganda and biased media coverage.

 

As far as the caf itself goes, i think those with visions of wild eyed crime hungry addicts roaming the streets looking for victims can sleep easy, it'll never be allowed.